Ditching machine



W. W. HARTSOUGH.

momma MACHINE.

1,411,999. APPLICATION-FILED JULY12,192 Patented Apr. 4, I

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1- W. W- HARTSOUGH'.

DITCHING MACHINE- APPLICATION EILED JULY12.4920.

W. W. HARTSOUGH;

DITCHING MACHINE.

W. W. HARTSOUGH. DITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Jun/12. i920.

Pamea Apr. 4, 1922.

'5 SHEETS-SHEET 4- w. W.LHA'RTSOUGH'. DITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IULYIZI 1920.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5- m/zwwm E K E D STATES PATENT osr csp f WALTER w. HARTSQUGH, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

nrronme MACHINE.

Application filed July 12,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WAUIERHXV. I'IA12T soUeH,-a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have 111- ventedcertain new and useful lmprovef ments in Ditching 'Machines; and I do hereby-declare the followingto be a full,

clear andexact description of the invention,

devices hereinafter described and defined in' the, claims. p p A commercial form of the ditching machine, embodying my several features t improvement, is illustrated in the accompanying (l1tt\\ lI1gS,.Wl1B1-'Q1l1 like characters indicate-like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings: m

Fig. l is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine; Fig. 1- is a front elevation v0t the machine; Fig. .5 is a detail of the excavating wheel, some parts being broken away; 1 V 'Fig; (5 is a section taken approximately on-t-he line 6-6 of Fig. 5; -i F 7 is an enlarged section-taken on the line =7"Tfof Fig. 5; i r Fig. 8 is 1l'.,\.lQ.Y corres ionding to Fig.- 7, but illustrating a slightly modified construction; f

Fig. 9 is a view corresponding to Fig. hut illustrating a mu'lti'-"sect-ion excavatiu Wheel; and

Fig. 10 isa section taken approximately on the line 1'O10 of 9', some parts being biioken away. 3 I The machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to '7, inclusive, comprises as follows: As a1novel anl important feature, I provide front and rear trucks, connect the front and real truck frames by a reach beam in the form of a heavy tube, and mount the excavating wheel to rotate on the inter Specification of Letters Patent. v Patented 4:, 1922.

1920. SerialNo. 395,439.

mediate portion of this reach, between the front and rear truck'frames. I

' The tubular reach 11 is preferahlya large 11-011 or st'e'el'pipe. ,The frame of tliei ront truck is indicated by: the numeral 12, and

the frame of the rear truclcisindicatedby [the numeral 13. The reach 11, at its rear end, is rigidly secure'd to the. reartruck frame 13 by suitable clamps 1d (see particul l 'ly Figs. 1 and 2). The fronttruek;frame 12 comprises a bolster 15, to Which the reach 1-1 is rigidly connected at its'front end. The rear portion of the front truckirame '12is rigidly connected to the intermediate poition of the reach 11' by a vertically disposed metal hanger plate 16, as best shoiv'n' in Fig. '2." Thus, the 7 front frame, 12 is w rigi ly secured tothe reach '11. The front frame 12 is carried from laterally spaced frontivheels 17, but is vertically adjustablein respect thereto,iand the said frontiwheels are mounte'd'to oscillate so as to steer the-machinm'the said arrangement Saidlwvheels are journaled on' stub axles 18 pivotedon vertical guide rods 19, which,

being-preferably accomplished as follows:

at their upper ends,jare rigidly connected to short projecting arms 20' of a horizon tally. disposed secondary'bolst'er 21. Short arms 22 are rigidly secu'red'to the lovver'end; oi the guide rods 19, and vertically disposed screwantea er-(ideas are i igid'lylsecured The frame, 12,a t itsfront end, has I armsj2t that perforated that they \vill fi'eelyslip oi er the threads of the re spective adjacent screw rods 23 Nuts 25 \vork on the slcrewrods 23;,f diirectly engage the m-lnsca' anc'l thus] s ipport. the front truck frame 12101 independent verti eahad justments'iat "its ,opilQite sides; Collars 26, on the guide 1"ods 19,llinrit"the downward movements. thereof through the f vertical sleeves offthestuh axles 18. The collars 26 are preferably cross connected by a t ehar 127,";shoivn' asconnected pipe sections lll Flg. 1, the same being removed from F1 2 and 4. I

' The rear truck frame. is narrow V stru'cture'and is carried by a single ere. faced traction Wheelv .28 journaled'" thereto and arranged to run on the bottom of the diml which will be rm-med ashereina fter described. V g Y The excavating wli'eelyas preferably de signed, comprises a flanged hub 29 and radial front and rear arms 30 and 31, said arms being made from angle bars and being tied together by truss straps The arms 30 and 31 are further shown as connected by tie-rings 30 and 31, and they afford parallel pairs of arms, which carry the excavating scoops or shovels. These scoops are preferably made of sheet metal bent into semi-cylindrical formand indicated by the numeral 33. Said scoops 33 are radially disposed inrespect to the hub of the wheel and they are rivetechbolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the corresponding front and rear arms 30 and .31, and thence, are open at their outer ends for an important reason presently to be further considered.

As, best shown in Figs. 2 and 7, thevforwardly projecting flanges of the front arms 30 are cut away at places where they are bolted to the scoops 33, and shaving knives 34 are secured to the front edges of said scoops and to the outer portions of said arms 30, by nut-equipped bolts 35,;01' otherwise. The numeral '36 indicates wedge strips interposed between the scoops and the arms 30 to assist in holding the shaving knives 34, with their cutting edges projecting forwardly of the plane of movement of the reduced outer end portions of the arms 30. This is important because it prevents the outer ends of the arms 30 from running in frictional contact with theearth bank that is being cut into by the knives 34. At the outer extremities, the knives project radially a short distance, say half an inch beyond the outerextremities of the scoops, so that in the excavating action, the earth will, be loosened up always to by the scoops. V p g I The arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8 1s points below those reached substantially like that as illustrated in Fig.

7; except that the forwardly projecting flanges of the arms '30. are in line with the scoops, instead'of being cut away or simply turned backward so that they will not engage the earth bank. p

'I 'he excavatingwheel just described is, as already stated in a generalway, arranged to work between i the front and-rear truck frames, and its hub 29 is j ournaled on the tubular. reach 11 and is held against axial movements thereon by fixed thrust collars 37 or other suitable devices. Rigidly secured to the front arms 30, of the said excavating wheel, is an internal gear 38, which,

shown, runs in mesh with the pinion 3 1 on the rear end of a short shaft 40 journaled in suitable hearings on the front truck frame 12. g

The numeral 41 indicates a motor. shown as a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine carried by the truck frame 12, with its i crank shaft 42 disposed longitudinallyof and 5.

Engine-driven means is also provided for rotating the traction wheel 28 to thereby impel the machine forward atthe proper or desired speed. This means includes the novel feature of utilizing the tubular reach 11 as a. support and enclosing casing for a transmission shaft that transmits the power from the engine on the front truck, axially through the excavating wheel, to'the rear truck where it is connected to the rear traction wheel. This arrangement is very important where the engine is on the front truck, and in a machine of this character, with laterally spaced front wheels and a single rear traction wheel, it is important that the engine be located on thefront truck, not only to distribute the weight but to get a proper laterally stable support for the engine.

The manner in which the above feature is carried out is as follows: 7 r

The numeral 48 indicates a long transmission shaft extended axially through and journaled in the tubular reachll and pro-- vided, at its front end, with a bevel gear-49 that meshes 'with a bevel gear 50 on the upper end of the oblique shaft 51 journaled in suitable bearings onthe front end of the front truck frame 12. Keyed to rotate with and to slide on the shaft 51, is a peripheral friction wheel 52 that runs in frictional contact with a facerfrictio-n wheel 53 secured to the front end of the engine crank shaft 42.

The rear single traction-wheel 28 carries a large sprocket wheel 54, and a sprocket chain 55 runs over this wheel and over a small sprocket 56 carried by one end of a short countershaft 57 journaled in suitable bearings 58 on the truck frame 13 and provided with a bevel gear 59 that-meshes with a bevel j pinion 60. This pinion 60 may be driven directly orfindirectly from the rear end of sandy or soft soilthan in clay, gravel orharder soil. Moreover, the rate of advance of the machine. in any particular soil, will depend on the depth of the cut.

The depth-ofthe cut may be varied by adjustment of the front truck frame 12 on the front wheels: and this, as already noted in the construction illustrated, is accomplished by adjustments of the nuts 25. Under rotation of the excavating wheel in the direction of the arrows marked on Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the scoops will.'of course. be brought into action in succession. WVhen the excavator is started into action, with the rear wheel 28 on thesurface of the ground, the front truck will be lowered until the scoops of the excavating wheels commence to cut a ditch. The depth of this ditch may be regulated by adjustments of the fronttruck and front end of the reach 11. The maximum depth of a ditch, for a-nvvertical adjustment of the front truck will be the depth cut by the excavating wheel, whcn'its scoops are working in' a vertical plane; and as the rear wheel runs on the bottom of the ditch,

it acts as a gauge wheel-tolimit the depth of the cut to the above noted position of the excavating wheel with its scoops operating in a vertical plane. lVith the excavator thus working, vertical upward adjustments of the front truck will produce ash-allower ditch and :vertieal downward adjustments ofthe front truck will produce a deeper ditch. Attention is further called to the fact that since the gauge wheel-works'on the bottom of the frame, thedept-h o'f'theditc h will not beettected to any .appreciableextent by slight irregularities in the surface'of the groundtraveled by the front wheels 17.

In :the excavating action, the scoops (see particularlyFig.7) shaveolt .or lcut the earth in a vertical plane, and with a drawing action which tends to causetlie shaving knife 34-130 dig into the bank and drawthe machine forward and, hence, to very greatly decrease the power otherwise required to drive the machine forward. a

The machine should be so designed that, when at work, as shown in Fig. 2, the outer portions of the scoops 33 will cut to the level of thebottom of the traction'wheel' 28, and the knives 34. should .work to the lowest depth so that they will softenup 'thebottoin of the ditch. i This. latter action provides softenedground, through'which the outer portions of the scoops travel in picking up then-load.

The earth-picked up by the scoops will be thrown by centrifugal force and gravity to one side of the ditch, and the distance to which it will be thrown may be varied by varying speed or rotation of the excavating wheel. As the scoops throw the dirt from.

the outer ends'undertheactionof centri-fugal force, it, of course,."follows that these scoops must-have openv outer ends free from obstruction.

'- It is sometimes desirable to deposit the;

dirt in an embankment closely confine'dto the side of the "ditch, and-forthis purposev (see Fig. 1), I'mayemploy a verticalliy'dis posed stopplate 62, against which the dirt will be thrownfrom the scoops. This stop plate is shown as supported f-rom'the truck frames 12 and inFigl.

For stearing the machine, a longipole .or lever 64 may be pivotally 'connectedf to the front "tie-bar 27 and to a cross steering: rod '65 that is connected to arms 66 that project forwardly ffrom thestub axles 18, so tha't'the wheels17 [may be oscillated.

' In :Figs. 9 and 10, I havelillustrated a multi-section or plural arrangement of excavating wheel. In this wheel, the scoops 33 33 and 33 ar'e carriedfrom common hub 29 by arms or spokes 30 and'31, and

'the common vhub has an internal gear 38 The scoops 33* arelocated in a 'dy' ance, and

the scoops 33 and 33iare'located in dif-' ferent planes at the rear of the plane of the scoops33i. 'Moreover,saidscoops 33 33 and 33a'r'elocated progressivelyfurther 13 by bars 63, shown only and further from'the axis- 0f rotationo f the deeper. Moreover, in" audirectioncircum wheel, so that the threeaseries of scoops,

fer entially of the wheel, the scoops 'of the three 'series are" offset; So that they will not be brought into initial contactat'eX-actly the 7 same time, thus distributing the cutting stra n very evenly throughout the rotation of the'whee'l. Thisarrangement ofthe exca-vating wheel is especially adapted .for digging quite deep trenches with a single cut of the machine. Li I -lVhat I claimis:

- 1. In a machine ofthe klnd described, the

combination with front and'rear {wheeleq'uipped trucks and a reach c'onnectmg: the

't-wotrucks, of a scoop equipped excavating wheel journaled on said'reachbetween said front and rear trucks, anengine on one of said trucks, traction wheel on'the' other truck, and transmission mechanism for driv-J ing said traction wheelon the'one' truck r from the engine on the other truck, including a shaft extended through saidreach.

2. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with front and rear wheelequipped trucks andia reach connecting the two trucks, of a scoop-equipped excavating wheel journaled on said reach between said the combination with front and rear wheel- 7 equipped trucks and a reach connecting the two trucks,fof a scoop-equipped excavating wheel journaled on said reachbetween said front and rear trucks, an engine on one of said trucks, a traction wheel on the other truck, transmission mechanism for driving said traction wheel on the one truck from the engine on the other truck, including a shaft extended through said reach, and independent transmission mechanism for driving said excavating wheel from said engine, one of said engine driven transmission mechanisms including a variable speed device, whereby the speed of said traction wheel may be varied in respect to the speed of said excavating wheel.

43 In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a front truck having late'rally spaced steering wheels, and a rear' truck having a traction wheel arranged to run in the ditch, of a reach connecting said front and rear trucks, a scoop-equipped ex cavating wheeljournaled on said reach between said front and rear trucks, a motor on said front truck, transmission mechanism for rotating said excavating wheel from said motor, and transmission mechanism fordriving said traction wheel from said motor, comprising ashaft extended through said reach. I

5. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a front truck having laterally spaced steering wheels, and a rear truck having a traction wheel arranged to run in the ditch, of a reachvconnectmg said front and rear trucks, a scoop-equipped excavating wheel. journaled on said reach between said front and rear trucks, a motor on said front truck, transmission mechanism for rotating said excavating wheel from vsaid motor, and transmission mechanism for driving said traction wheel from said motor, comprising a shaft extended through said reach, said latter transm1s- 'sion mechanism also including a variable speed 'device whereby the speed of said traction wheel may be varied in respect to the speed of said excavating wheel. 7

6. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with an excavating wheel mounted to rotate in a plane transversely of the machine and provided with circumferentially spacedscoops that are open at I their outer extremities and are provided with cutting edges at their front sides, of a motor carried by the machine and provided with connections for rotating said excavating wheel, said machine having a traction wheel arranged to run in a ditch at the rear of said excavating wheel, and independent transmission mechanism for driving saidtraction wheel from said motor.

7. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with front and rear wheelequipped trucks and a reach connecting the two trucks, of a scoop-equipped excavating wheel journaled on said reach between said front and rear trucks, an engine on one of said trucks, a traction wheel 011 the other truck, transmission mechanism for driving said traction wheel on the one truckfrom the engine'on the other truck, including a shaft extended through said reach, and means for vertically adjusting the front end of said reach. r a

8. In a machineof the kind described, the combination with an excavating wheel mounted to rotate in a plane transversely of the machine and provided with circumferentially spaced scoops that are-open at their outer extremities and are provided with. cutting edges at their front sides, of a motor carried by the machine and provided with connections for rotating said excavating wheel, said machine having a traction wheel arranged to run in a ditch at the rear of said excavatingwheehand independent transmission mechanism for driving said traction wheel from said motor, the scoops on said excavating wheel being arranged in a plurality of series, each series working in its own plane and the scoops of the rear .7

series having greater radial projection from the axis of rotation than'the scoops ofa more forward series. I

9. Inamachine of the kind described,the combination with an excavating wheel mounted to rotate in a plane transversely of the machine and provided with circumferentially spaced scoops that are openat their outer extremities and are provided J) approximately semi-cylindrical scoops having their outer edges attached to the outer ends of said pairs of front and rear arms, said scoops at their front edgeshaving knife blades that work in planes in advance or ahead of the outer portions of said front arm so as to prevent frictional contact between said arms and the earth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WALTER W. HA TsoUG 

